Palestinian wounded near site of fatal West Bank attack

A Palestinian woman was lightly injured after stones were thrown at her car late Saturday near the site of a recent fatal West Bank shooting, medical and security sources said.

According to Palestinian medics, the woman was taken to hospital but her condition was "not very bad". A spokesman for the Israeli army confirmed they had received a report about the incident and dispatched a medical team, but the woman was evacuated before it arrived.

The stone-throwing took place near Ras Karkar, a village northwest of the Dolev settlement, near which on Friday 25-year-old Israeli Danny Gonen was shot dead in his car by a Palestinian gunman, after hiking with a friend in the area.

Palestinians said Saturday's incident could have been an act of revenge by settlers for Gonen's death, although the stones could also have been thrown by Palestinians mistaking the woman's vehicle for an Israeli one.

The incident took place on the same day that Gonen was buried in his central Israeli hometown Lod.

Attending the funeral was Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, who pledged to turn the spring to which Gonen had hiked into a tourist site.

"The murderers who didn't want to see even a few hikers there will now see how thousands of other Jews flock to it," he said.

While militant Palestinian factions praised the deadly shooting, no group has yet claimed responsibility for it.

The Israeli army was investigating and searching the area but as of Saturday had made no arrests, a spokeswoman said.

The attack took place on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Israel recently relaxed a series of restrictions on the movement of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians to and from Israel, citing the relative security lull and good cooperation with the Palestinian Authority.  

The military spokeswoman said there were no immediate changes in the Ramadan directives following the attack.
Source: AFP